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This is a continuation of our 2020 World Cruise Review, which is based on a similar format that I used after our 2015 World Cruise. Volume III of the 2015 Cruise covered the negatives, or areas needing improvement, but after many hours of post cruise reflection, we can only think of 1 negative – missing most of the ports, but this was completely outside the control of the cruise line. Therefore, Vol III will address even more positives:

Sadly, every good thing must come to an end, and for the 8 remaining pax on the Magical Mystery Tour to Somewhere, today is that day. Slow steaming Westwards, in early morning it was “Land Ahoy”, as we spotted the Rock of Gibraltar. By Noon, we were brought up to the anchor, on the West side of the Rock.

Yes, with the ship, “Swinging on the pick” we disembarked by tender, but not a ship’s tender. Read on for our adventure, once we stepped off the ship.

OMG!!! our last full day aboard the magnificent Viking Sun and what a spectacular day, with special lunch, cocktail party, special dinner with a brilliant dessert followed by birthday cake, then an amazing show staring Viking Vocalist Tobias.

A couple of days ago, I mentioned we had completed all the behind the scenes tours, but NO, we had another one tonight, after dinner. Read on!!

Yesterday we received the shock news that we are going home, so the cruise is starting to wind down, Other than a very competitive Baggo match against Engineering, today was a rather quiet and relaxing day. Quite a contrast to tomorrow, which will be busy.

Note: above photo is one I found on the laptop when flying home yesterday that I hadn’t posted. It is from Dubai, so some participates had already left the ship in Dubai. This was after the Officers v’s pax match, which the pax won by almost 100 points.

Today we received information that changed Mystery Cruise to Somewhere, to the Mystery Cruise to Gibraltar. Yes!, we now have an end in sight, so read on to find out when and how we are all getting home.

In addition to receiving flight instructions, we participated in a thank-you message to the Hagen Family from the Officers & Crew, and participated in a Viking Crew Induction Course, we even received a certificate upon completion.

We have completed all the behind the scene ship tours, but still have the HR Crew Induction Training to attend, so we scheduled that for tomorrow afternoon. Since we were provided “Honorary Crew” badges, the H/R Manager offered to host a quick crew induction session for us.

Today we resume the Baggo challenge, after a 2-day sabbatical, read on to find out the result. Hint – it was really close < 100 points.

Well the Magical Mystery Tour to Somewhere is quickly coming to an end, as we will disembark in Gibraltar on April 10th, flying up to London, for an overnight stay. We then fly home to Vancouver April 11th, at which time we will start our 14 day quarantine.

As we slowly steam through the rather windy and choppy Mediterranean Sea, we enjoyed another quiet and relaxing sea day aboard the magnificent Viking Sun. This was our 2nd day in a row without a scheduled Baggo match, so I can only hope our longer layoff doesn’t negatively affect our team’s performance tomorrow.

Regular readers are aware we have enjoyed numerous behind the scenes tours, so today we completed the last two areas, with a double header. Read on to see where we visited today. Hint, these days you normally don’t see them while at sea.

The ship also started a new initiative today, with the crew working 1 day on followed by a day off, for recreation, training, personal development, etc. Therefore, with only about 50% of the crew working each day, our crew/passenger ration has dropped to a still very impressive 28.65 crew to each passenger.😊

The Magical Mystery Cruise to Somewhere is now in the Meddy, bound for Lisbon and then Portsmouth, UK. Should be in Lisbon on April 11th and then Portsmouth on April 15th. While nothing is confirmed, and won’t be for many days, we hope to disembark with many of the crew and fly home from London Heathrow.

Today we had no ship’s tour planned, so a fortuitous meeting and chat with the Doctor in the Atrium, scored us a tour of the Medical Centre. During the book inventory, we also scored a tour of the Owner’s Suite and it’s huge.

A rather early start to the day, as we awoke at 04:00 to the clanking of the anchor, as the chain was brought in by the capstans. Suites are nice, but this is one another drawback. I knew nothing much happened for almost an hour, so I got up about 05:00, heading out to the balcony to watch the canal transit. The balcony is definitely a plus for the suites, as we have a great view ahead and down the Port side.

In addition to the Canal transit, we also had a big Baggo match against the Restaurant, Cooking Class and a special dinner this evening.